The land of the burial ground was part of the Franciscan (Greyfriars) Monastery until the Scottish Reformation. In 1564 Mary, Queen of Scots granted the land to the burgh of Dundee, for use as a burial ground. It was used for meetings by the Dundee Incorporated Trades, and subsequently became known as The Howff, from the Scots word howff 'an enclosed open space, yard, area (as a timber yard)', likely related to German or Dutch hof 'enclosed space, courtyard'.[2] Old parish records for burials within The Howff begin in the late 18th century. Prior to this records of mortcloth hire, a cloth rented out by the Guildry and Trades to cover bodies or coffins before burial, provide evidence of burials dating back to 1655.[3] Meetings at The Howff ceased in 1776.[1] The last burial took place in 1878 (George Duncan). The walls along the west side date from 1601.[4]
The vault to the extreme south west (now simply saying "Blackness" inside) was the burial Vault of the Wedderburns of Blackness House in Dundee. A sealed window on its exterior appears to indicate this was either a watch-house or part of the original meeting-house prior to the vault being built (c.1630).
The graveyard is highly unusual by Scottish standards, containing a high number of Roman-style coffer tombs. It also contains a high number of inscriptions which philosophise on death itself rather than discussing the person interred.
Of the 80,000 burials in the Howff around 3% are classed as "foreign" but with many simply bearing this label due to birth at sea, reflecting Dundee's maritime heritage. As an odder distinction, some 10% of the deaths are specifically recorded as "Irish burials", largely labourers in the early 19th century.[5]
In 1834 a new cemetery, which was known as the New Howff, was opened on what was then the northern edge of the town on the lower slopes of Dundee Law. This cemetery, which was influenced by Glasgow Necropolis, was more or less destroyed by later building works. Firstly the construction of Dundee's inner ring road in the 1960s cut through the site, and this was followed by the erection of a multi-storey car park over the New Hoff's southern end. Some grave stones were saved and positioned against its western wall which had originally been the boundary between the cemetery and the Dundee and Newtyle Railway.[7]
Referencesedit
^ abHistoric Environment Scotland. "MEADOWSIDE AND BARRACK STREET, THE HOWFF (Category A Listed Building) (LB25312)". Retrieved 14 March 2019.
^"Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: howf n1 v". Dsl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
^"Friends of Dundee City Archives - Mortcloth". Fdca.org.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
howff, burial, ground, city, dundee, scotland, established, 1564, most, important, collections, tombstones, scotland, protected, category, listed, building, original, west, gate, howff, cemetery, crest, over, entrance, howff, cemetery, dundee, majority, graves. The Howff is a burial ground in the city of Dundee Scotland Established in 1564 it has one of the most important collections of tombstones in Scotland and is protected as a category A listed building 1 The original west gate the Howff Cemetery The crest over the entrance the Howff Cemetery Dundee The Howff The majority of graves face exactly due east Contents 1 History 2 Burials 3 The New Howff 4 References 5 External linksHistory edit nbsp Coffer tombs The Howff Dundee The land of the burial ground was part of the Franciscan Greyfriars Monastery until the Scottish Reformation In 1564 Mary Queen of Scots granted the land to the burgh of Dundee for use as a burial ground It was used for meetings by the Dundee Incorporated Trades and subsequently became known as The Howff from the Scots word howff an enclosed open space yard area as a timber yard likely related to German or Dutch hof enclosed space courtyard 2 Old parish records for burials within The Howff begin in the late 18th century Prior to this records of mortcloth hire a cloth rented out by the Guildry and Trades to cover bodies or coffins before burial provide evidence of burials dating back to 1655 3 Meetings at The Howff ceased in 1776 1 The last burial took place in 1878 George Duncan The walls along the west side date from 1601 4 The vault to the extreme south west now simply saying Blackness inside was the burial Vault of the Wedderburns of Blackness House in Dundee A sealed window on its exterior appears to indicate this was either a watch house or part of the original meeting house prior to the vault being built c 1630 The graveyard is highly unusual by Scottish standards containing a high number of Roman style coffer tombs It also contains a high number of inscriptions which philosophise on death itself rather than discussing the person interred Of the 80 000 burials in the Howff around 3 are classed as foreign but with many simply bearing this label due to birth at sea reflecting Dundee s maritime heritage As an odder distinction some 10 of the deaths are specifically recorded as Irish burials largely labourers in the early 19th century 5 Burials edit nbsp Grave in The Howff Burials at The Howff include Alexander Bell 1776 1852 surgeon Samuel Bell 1739 1813 town architect Thomas Bell 1759 1844 Provost of Dundee James Chalmers 1782 1853 printer bookseller and inventor of the adhesive postage stamp Sir Alexander Douglas of Glenbervie 1738 1812 George Duncan 1791 1878 politician and last person to be buried in the Howff George Forrester 1635 1675 Dean of Guild in Dundee John Glas 1695 1773 clergyman and founder of the Glasite movement Clementina Stirling Graham 1782 1877 Scottish hostess and author James and Janet Keiller 1737 1813 creators of Keiller s marmalade Baron Jhone Kynnier John Kinnear 1511 1584 David Lindsay 1st Earl of Crawford c 1360 1407 interred in the now destroyed pre reformation Greyfriars kirk 6 John Lyon 1765 1814 botanist memorial only John Pitcairn d 1800 Provost of Dundee Alexander Riddoch 1744 1822 eight times Provost of Dundee John Scrymsour sic 1611 1657 Provost of Dundee The Wedderburn and Ogilvy Wedderburn baronets of Balindean multiple graves The New Howff editIn 1834 a new cemetery which was known as the New Howff was opened on what was then the northern edge of the town on the lower slopes of Dundee Law This cemetery which was influenced by Glasgow Necropolis was more or less destroyed by later building works Firstly the construction of Dundee s inner ring road in the 1960s cut through the site and this was followed by the erection of a multi storey car park over the New Hoff s southern end Some grave stones were saved and positioned against its western wall which had originally been the boundary between the cemetery and the Dundee and Newtyle Railway 7 References edit a b Historic Environment Scotland MEADOWSIDE AND BARRACK STREET THE HOWFF Category A Listed Building LB25312 Retrieved 14 March 2019 Dictionaries of the Scots Language SND howf n1 v Dsl ac uk Retrieved 2 November 2021 Friends of Dundee City Archives Mortcloth Fdca org uk Retrieved 6 October 2017 The Howff Canmore Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland Retrieved 4 November 2011 Friends of Dundee City Archives Howff Burial Records Fdca org uk Retrieved 2 November 2021 James Balfour Paul Scots Peerage vol iii p 17 Edinburgh 1904 Archive org McKean Charles Whatley Patricia with Baxter Kenneth 2013 Lost Dundee Dundee s Lost Architectural Heritage 2nd ed Edinburgh Birlinn pp 95 96 ISBN 978 1 78027 106 4 External links editTombs of the Dundee Howff The Howff site record at Canmore Historic Environment Scotland nbsp Media related to The Howff at Wikimedia Commons nbsp Spring The Howff Dundee 56 27 41 N 2 58 22 W 56 4615 N 2 9727 W 56 4615 2 9727 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Howff amp oldid 1211844283, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
